A sander is a machine that uses an abrasive such as sandpaper to smooth or polish a workpiece composed of wood, stone, plastic, or other such material. Typically, the abrasive is moved back and forth across the product, abrading its surface and thereby smoothing it. Different abrasives can be used to achieve different results. For example, a coarse grit abrasive is used to abrade quickly and deeply. A fine grit abrasive is used to produce the final, desired smoothness.
However, even sanding machines that use a fine grit abrasive can leave sanding patterns in the product. A sanding pattern is simply a collection of scratches in the product's surface. For wood products, cross-grain sanding patterns, or scratches running across the wood's grain can result. To remove sanding patterns, finish sanding is often done by hand with a hand-held sander or with steel wool.
The invented sander provides an alternative to hand-held finishing sanders while removing sanding patterns, by applying the abrasive to the surface to be sanded using multiple independent motions. In other words, the invented sander eliminates the need for finish sanding to be done by hand.